Some Other Breed

A Mix of Rhodie & Leghorn

So, we went to pick up our 2 day old buff orpington chick and turned out later, as she matured, that we got some mystery chicken instead. She's now 3 months old. Here she is. She's got a nice light pink comb thankfully which is a good sign of a girl. We are thinking she's a production red with Rhodie (upright body and reddish feathers) and Leghorn (big legs). She's also very social and sweet. What say all of you out there, what's your vote for breed and sex?

Here she is standing next to 3 month old americauna, behind a 3 year orpington, and the banty rooster in the foreground.

Hatcheries do not sell true bred birds and it shows most obviously in the Rhode Island Reds. But even those hatcheries that sell their light colored, smaller, higher production RIR, they'll still sell a generic red bird for even higher production commonly known as a production red.

There is often a lot of mediterrean blood blended in to ramp up egg production. These birds hold their tails higher, have smaller, lighter bodies and are lighter in color than a true bred RIR. The body shapes are also much more generic. The true bred RIR has a brick body shape, these various production reds do not.

These are true bred RIR and look nothing like the production type birds.

Could you please explain how a production red rooster can be red in colour?

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I think you're confusing Red Sex Link and Production Red. Red Sex Link males are white. Production Reds (thanks for that great explanation by Fred above) will be red birds. Here's my fully mature Production Red (hatchery RIR) rooster, at 3 years old, with one of his daughters. He died this spring from a systemic infection, sadly. He was awesome.

Oh I see, so when you use the phrase "production red" you mean a hatchery quality RIR? Prior to this I thought that the phrase "production red" was synonymous with "sex link" layers eg Isa brown, Hi-line, etc. Thanks for clearing that up!